Some in the United States are suffering from acute anxiety attacks and other forms of worry because of the recent financial setbacks. As USA Today reported: "As a nation, we are emotionally struggling to digest each day's dour economic news. Home foreclosures are at record highs. The stock market is gyrating. Retirement and college savings plans that families have spent decades building are crumbling" (Sept. 25, 2008).

This financial crisis has hurt citizens across the country, affecting executives, employers, employees, parents and children. Marriages are under greater stress as husbands and wives argue over how to best cope with the difficulties. Financial planners, executive consultants, employee counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists are overwhelmed with telephone calls asking what to do and how to react. One can quickly overreact, making unwise decisions based solely on emotion, or suffer from action paralysis and do absolutely nothing. Extremes are usually poor options.

One lady simply said: "I just put it in God's hands. I go to bed praying each night that things will someday get better" (ibid.). That's a very good start! Also, in an era in which one may purchase any of countless self-help books we strongly recommend that readers consult the best such book ever published. The Bible gives all kinds of important tips and principles about how to cope with adversity. (Source: USA Today.)